1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to grocery shopping cart processors and displays, and, more particularly, to such a device used to provide a shopper with product information correlated with the shopper""s personal buying habits.
In the aforementioned, related patent application, a Product Information System (PISYS) for shoppers in a supermarket is presented. PISYS features an individualized computer (portable remote unit) mounted on each shopping cart. The remote unit includes a bar code scanner for allowing the shopper to scan the bar code labels on products. As a result, information is displayed, such as the product description, price, state and local taxes, food stamp eligibility, discount coupon eligibilities, nutrition information, etc.
The shopper can also keep a running total of the cost of the purchased items. If differences occur between the total shopping bill shown on the shopper""s PISYS and the total tallied by the check-out clerk, the shopping list, prices and total costs from the PISYS can be downloaded to the check-out counter terminal using infrared communications. This provides an easy and timely resolution of the differences without inconveniencing other people waiting in the check-out line.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,952, issued to Malec et al on Nov. 27, 1990 for xe2x80x9cShopping Cart Display Systemxe2x80x9d, a shopping system for advertising products to shoppers is illustrated. The display system in each cart is triggered by transmitters located in each aisle. The Malec system presents an advertisement when a potential shopper is physically close to a product, regardless of whether the shopper has a need for it. When the cart enters an aisle, the shopper is informed of special products located therein. For example, the Malec system may present a toothpaste advertisement whenever a shopper passes through the oral hygiene section of the store. The Malec system does not interact with the shopper, and advertising is not correlated with the buyer""s own current product selections or buying habits.
It would be advantageous to display advertising material attuned to a shopper""s specific interests at the exact, critical moment when the shopper is making a purchase decision and to bring coupon and special pricing information to the shopper""s attention.
It would also be advantageous to provide a system to increase the overall unit volume of sales to each shopper by bringing the shopper""s attention to products which are either more profitable or are not selling well.
It would further be advantageous to use real-time market information gleaned from each shopper""s trip to measure advertising effectiveness, to refine advertising, pricing, packaging and shelf location strategies.
It would be advantageous to present both visual and audible cues in languages other than English.
It would also be advantageous to reduce advertising costs by eliminating the publication and distribution costs associated with print media.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an inference-based advertising and information system that is, in part, initiated by reading the Universal Product Code (UPC) bar codes found on most retail items.
The invention incorporates current purchase input data and special store promotions with an artificial intelligence (AI)-based shopper-interactive shopping system, using a computer carried on each shopper""s shopping cart. It makes the shopping experience more productive and interesting and provides a platform for promoting products more effectively. Information related to the interest of the shopper in various products, obtained by the shopper""s product bar code scanning, is used to selectively advertise competing and complementary products to the shopper at the time that he is making the decision to buy a product. Acquired and inferred knowledge about the shopper is combined with the shopper""s proximity to advertisable competing or complementary products on other shelves, in order to further select the advertisements and information that will appear on the shopping cart display. The PISYS invention presents advertising copy for a carefully selected product not only when the shopper is close to an item, but also when the shopper expresses interest in it. Thus, PISYS intervenes at the exact moment when the shopper makes a product decision. PISYS presents ads which are attuned to the shopper""s expressed interests. The shopper is likely to perceive such ads as a positive adjunct instead of a minor nuisance to be ignored. For example, a shopper scanning an item such as a soft drink might be shown advertisements for a competing soft drink, or even a store-generic soft drink. Such an advertisement selection could be based on the highest store margins or advertising/promotion fees paid by manufacturers and distributors. The system might also display complementary products such as nuts, chips and dips, in case the shopper has purchased beer or wine.
The system further defines the selection of advertisements according to the general interests of the shopper, and the shopper who uses food stamps is such an example. If a person questions the system repeatedly for information about food stamp eligibility of products, the system will not advertise expensive cheeses and wines. Furthermore, shopper cost sensitivity may be indicated if the system displays an advertisement for a competing lower-priced item that is subsequently purchased by the shopper.
The system maintains a Preference and Purchase Profile (PPP) for each customer. The PPP represents information about a shopper""s interests and tastes, entered voluntarily the first time that the shopper uses the system. The PPP also contains a set of historical parameters which characterizes the shopper""s buying habits over time. These range from statistical characterizations of product classes which a shopper purchases most frequently to a shopper""s movement through the store.
Provisions may be made for each regular shopper to have a custom PPP stored in an in-house central computer and entered into the shopper""s remote unit when the shopper enters the store. Information necessary to initiate this process could be stored on a store card given to the shopper and read with a card reader at the entrance to the store. Basic shopper information could be stored on the shopper""s card and read by the scanner on the remote unit. Alternatively, the remote unit could be automatically initialized via infrared (IR) transmission with a shopper""s PPP from the main computer at the time the shopper enters the store.
The remote unit keeps time-stamped lists of products scanned by the shopper, advertised to the shopper and purchased by the shopper. The lists can be downloaded to the central store computer via infrared communication to the check-out counter terminal at the time of check-out. An IR communication system between the check-out counter and shopping cart computer has been described in the aforementioned co-pending patent application. This list would be used to update a regular shopper""s PPP on the main computer. Such a list could also be used to determine if the advertisement was effective in changing the decision of the buyer. The system measures effectiveness by tracking the time when the advertisement was displayed and the later moment when the item was added by the shopper to his shopping list. This information, downloaded to the in-house central computer, could be analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the advertising, as well as the billing of advertising fees to the manufacturers and/or distributors.
For example, the advertising fee structure could be based on a flat fee, plus the number of times an advertisement is displayed, plus the number of times the advertisement was effective in changing the mind of the shopper. Of course, different weights will be applied to the different factors discussed above. Automated billing software could easily be developed by anyone skilled in the art of software development.
Since the system described here could increase a store""s profits considerably, such software could also calculate the profits that accrue to the store owner because of the use of such advertisement techniques. The software also could project what the profits would have been, if alternative advertising rules had been used. Furthermore, the output of this analysis software could be used to revise the rules governing advertising selection.
The remote unit described in the aforementioned co-pending patent application could be modified to include a larger graphic display. Advertisements could be stored on a video disk and indexed in a list. Several modifications can be incorporated in the software to include, at the shopper""s request, functions such as the identification of aisles and shelves where various products are located. It can also be modified to keep a shopper-generated list of products and shelf prices, in case shelf prices are different from the check-out computer-stored prices.
The artificial intelligence software includes a rule-based inference engine that uses several related databases described in detail hereinbelow. Although the discussion hereinafter presented assumes that each remote unit has its own intelligent software running on its own individual computer, an alternative architecture is possible wherein each remote unit acts as a wireless terminal with intelligent software running on a central in-house computer.